There’s a story in the Old Testament of the Bible about this guy named Benaiah. Have you seen the movie 300?

Yea, it was great. This is cooler.

“Benaiah…on a snowy day, he chased a lion down into a pit and killed it.” 2 Samuel 23:20

Why is this story so amazing? 1) Benaiah chased a lion on a snowy day. A lion would have much better reflexes and fighting skills on a snowy day than any human. 2) Benaiah chased a lion. Normal people run from lions, but Benaiah chased one. 3) Into a pit. Benaiah chased a lion into a pit on a slippery, snowy day. 4) He killed it. Not with a gun. Probably with some mad karate-kid skills that Jackie Chan's ancestors taught him.

Rather than running from the lion like a scaredy cat, Benaiah took this amazing opportunity to be a LionChaser.

What appear as our great problems are often our greatest opportunities.

Why do so many Christians seem like scaredy-cats rather than Lion Chasers? We don’t take awesome risks - risks that give God awesome room to show His miraculous power. Why do we always focus so much on playing it safe? Why do we buckle up in fear so easily?

Mark Batterson addressed this beautifully: “Most of our problems are not circumstantial. Most of our problems are perceptual. Our biggest problems can be traced back to an inadequate understanding of who God is. Our problems seem really big because our God seems really small…”

Benaiah didn’t see a huge problem - he saw a huge opportunity.

What you see as your biggest problem - realize it’s a HUGE opportunity. Chase it. Allow room for God to show His miraculous provision!

What lion do you need to chase?

Today's message based off this book by Mark Batterson! I highly recommend it! Click the pic to buy it!

The Oxford English Dictionary defines procrastination as “verb delay or postpone action.” I actually find it very funny that procrastination is a verb. That brings procrastination into a new light.

We feel tired. We don’t feel likedoing what we have to do; need to do. Rather than focusing all of our energies on completing what we have to do (and therefore doing it well), we do something else: procrastinate.

The fact that procrastination is an action shows how ridiculously crazy we are: we delay doing something we have to do which makes us stress out and worry about it. Ah! Sounds like fun!

Hello, I’m Jared. I’m a procrastaholic by nature (I know, I’m ashamed…). Let’s be honest, procrastination isn’t something that’s rare with people our age. I think that’s why God made me hate it. Now, when I say hate, I’m delivering a Simon Cowell –style “dis” right there. It is appalling. A monstrosity. If I could kill it, I would – and then I would kill it again (the second time being pure pleasure). OK, I’m getting carried away; back on track!

God recently healed me of my procrastination. He gave me a new, “Get er done!” mindset that I LOVE! Rather than stressing, I now complete tasks on time & beautifully (it’s a sin to lie, so I had to be honest there J).

GOD wants to heal you of your procrastination problems, too. So, what do you do?

PRAY. I did a lot of this about my procrastination and time-wasting.

Talk to God. Tell Him your problem and how you want to overcome it for His Glory. And keep praying. Oh, and keep praying. Believe.

When you feel like procrastinating – delaying or postponing an action – do what I do: remember the Nike slogan: “Just Do It”!

Oh, it feels really good when you just do it!

One area we especially don’t want to procrastinate in is our relationship with God. Even now, I procrastinate in certain aspects of it. For me, it’s often reading the Bible (God’s been helping me!). What we especially don’t want to procrastinate in is the securing of our eternity. Don’t procrastinate by just thinking about it. Our years are short!

Hebrews 3 says, ““See to it, brothers, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness. We have come to share in Christ if we hold firmly till the end the confidence we had at first. As has just been said:

“Today, if you hear his voice,do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion.”"

Please decide, TODAY, to SECURE your place in Heaven.If not now, when?

If you want to know more about how to begin a relationship with God & Jesus Christ, please read this & this and this and message me through “Contact Us” above!

What have you been procrastinating from recently? Let’s have an open discussion so that we may help each other!

"Everyone ends up somewhere, but few people end up somewhere on purpose." - Craig Groeschel, Senior Pastor//LifeChurch.tv

Free Growth template below!

The Bible says in Proverbs 29:18, "Where there is no vision, the people will perish."

That is why I developed the SSGP - Summer Spiritual Growth Plan.

It may sound like homework, but trust me it is most definitely not. This tool will help free you, actually, to do what we all long to do: Grow closer to God.

When we don't have vision for our relationship with God...we'll end up somewhere...but most likely somewhere further from God. The SSGP will help you cast a vision for what you want your relationship with God to look like this summer (through your alone time) - and it'll help you keep it. Now, that's pretty sweet, huh? :)

Go ahead and download and print the SSGP below! It is a very simple 1 page document! (I included a 2nd page describing what to do on the 1st page if you need some help!)